WHAT DO WE PAY TAXES FOR?

The difference between salary earners in Africa and their counterparts in more developed countries is that citizens in the latter countries can see where their tax money is going.

Salaries all over the world start with a bigger amount, the gross payment, and go through a number of deductions, some of which are mandatory, before they end in the ‘take-home pay’. It has always been the case, it will always be that way, right? There are even countries in the developed world where the mandatory tax deductions are so huge that the take-home pay is always way below 50 per cent of the gross salary.

Even after laying their hands on their take-home pay, citizens still part with more of their monthly earnings through value-added tax (VAT) and all forms of other levies as they try to dodge their way from the start of every month to its end. Increasing numbers of them, especially in the current COVID-19-infected economy, hardly ever make their journey from the start of the month to its end without shedding some tears and entertaining some seriously dark thoughts, driven by all levels of stress and depression when they look at their miserable material conditions.

Contributions

Those who stop to do the calculations soon realise that the direct and indirect contributions from their meagre earnings to government coffers are actually even larger than it first meets the eye. The difference, and herein lies the rub, between salary earners in Africa and their counterparts in the more developed countries is that the citizens in the latter countries are generally happy to make their contributions because they see where their tax money is going. There are low, if any, levels of corruption (or there are immediate consequences for those behind it as soon as it is detected), the roads are neat and well-maintained, public services are delivered as promised, public infrastructure is well maintained, and so is public transport.

The truth is that many suffer silently under the yoke of increasing debts they cannot come up with ways to escape; debts from loans they received from family and friends, debts from failed and failing small businesses, and debts from the same banks that are too eager to take away their cars and homes as soon as there are indications that the citizens can longer afford their monthly payments.

Deteriorate

They all suffer in silence as they helplessly watch their lives deteriorate while people employed in government bodies continue to live large, especially those employed at senior management levels and their political bosses. The latter enjoy generous access to expensive hotel stays, state housing, and luxury cars some have been reported to simply replace with new ones as soon as they see scratches on them or if they decide that they do not like the official to whom the vehicle was assigned before they took over.

All of this is funded by hard working citizens who get very little in return for their ‘investment’, apart from high levels of arrogance by many employed by the state, poor services, and elevated levels of impunity by the politically shielded ones with dark clouds hanging over their heads. Some countries have been turned into a real Orwellian Animal Farm where the laws get imposed harshly for little offences committed by the poor and delaying tactics are put at play to shield the powerful, especially those connected to the political elite, when they commit crimes.

Over the years, individuals of all backgrounds – especially those with skills that can be sold in the open international market for special skills – began to pack up and go. As all of this happened, the once thriving and happy to contribute tax base began to gradually diminish right in front of our eyes, but few bothered to pay attention as they were alerted to the slow-boiling pot of water we all found ourselves in.

Trapped

When the coronavirus arrived and international travel restrictions were imposed, many found themselves trapped, having to survive on their savings, many of which did not go far, as local trading and movement restrictions that often did not make sense were also imposed, further limiting their ability to make a living. Hundreds of millions of so-called stimulus packages came and went with only small percentages of them going where they were most needed.

PPE-related corruption was exposed and not a single person had been tried and convicted as a result of the roles they are alleged to have played in it all. None of this gives confidence to hardworking, suffering citizens, whose meagre earnings continue to fund the lavish lifestyles of politicians who have not shown any sign of caring. Until things change, it is hard to see depleted trust levels in governments returning to previous heights and all citizens with the ability to do so happily playing their part in the rebuild. Ethical, caring leadership is desperately needed.

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